Mercenaries
The World of Ecol Tactics is filled with dangers, and no Captain is complete without a unit of able-bodied soldiers--but such help is not free. In order to form a successful unit, the player will have to hire on many Mercenaries to tackle these many perils. The Mercenary Classes Unlike the player's Captain character, Mercenaries have predefined roles and progressions. Currently, Mercenaries fit into one of four classes, Fighter, Mage, Archer, or Cleric. Although players have some choice in the selection of Mercenaries, they cannot be given Skill Stones, Weapons, or Equipment, and so their only means of growth is gaining levels. At this time, Mercenaries also cannot be named. Mercenaries come in four basic varieties, each having a male and female counterpart. Other than appearance, there are no differences between similarly leveled Mercenaries of the same class. Fighter Fighters are the basic front-line troops. They develop primarily in Strength, Defense, and Health Points at the expense of Resistance. This means that Fighters inflict good physical damage while still being able to soak up incoming damage. In addition, Fighter skills are primarily close ranged so Fighters are best used for getting up close and personal. Archer Archers are ranged units that act quickly and deal damage from afar. They develop primarily in Accuracy and Evasion while being relatively balanced in Strength and Intelligence. Archer skills are practically useless up close but extremely effective at a distance. Mage Mages are the primary spell casting unit designed to inflict magic damage at mid-to-short ranges. The develop primarily in Intelligence, Resistance, and Magic Points at the expense of Accuracy, Evasion, Health Points, and Defense. Capable of great destruction to multiple foes, they are liabilities when melee units engage them. Cleric Clerics are both great support units and capable combat units. The develop primarily in ... The Cleric is best suited as a healer of damaged units but does well in inflicting melee damage or ranged magic damage. Hiring Mercenaries Mercenaries, as the name implies, do not automatically join the player's cause but rather must be hired from the Mercenary Office. Inside the office there is a bulletin board that activates the Mercenary Menu that has three boards, each with a different cost to use and with different rewards. Using the Mercenary Board Before a player may hire a Mercenary, one of these boards must be selected. Each board consists of six face-down cards that may be flipped to reveal a Mercenary. Each card flip costs some allotment of gold or M-tickets and will reveal a Mercenary within a general range as shown by the Board Info box. When a Mercenary is hired, the board is reset--all new cards are drawn and positioned face-down. The board may also be reset with the Refresh Button located at the top right-hand portion of the Mercenary Menu. The Three Mercenary Boards The first board in the list is the green General Board and is the cheapest board per flip. On this board, each card clip costs 1,000 gold and potential Mercenaries range from Level 1 to the player's level plus 3. For example, a level 10 player might find a Mercenary ranging from Level 1 to Level 13. There is a very small chance of a Master Mercenary being found on this board. The second board is the blue Advanced Board. Every flip on the Advanced Board costs 5,000 gold, but the level range of potential Mercenaries is increased somewhat. On this board, Mercenary levels range from 10 levels below the player's level to 3 level higher. For example, a level 20 player may find a Mercenary ranging from level 10 to level 23. There is also a greater chance of randomly finding a Master Mercenary on this board. Considering the cost and level scale, this is not a recommended board for new players. The final board is the purple Special Board. Every flip on this board costs an increasing amount of M-Tickets, which can be purchased from the Cash Shop or sometimes found through battle. Every Special Board is guaranteed to have one Master Mercenary, therefore there is a one-in-six chance of finding a Master Mercenary on the first selection (and by only spending one M-Ticket). As mentioned, each successive M-Ticket cost on a single board increases by one and can become rather pricey. However, when this board is reset, the cost is also reset. Hiring a Mercenary Once a Mercenary card has been flipped, the player may view that stats of that Mercenary and choose to hire. At this point, there is no cost to hire a Mercenary and the player is free to look at other candidates, continue flipping cards, or reset the board. As stated previously, hiring a Mercenary completely resets the board. Battle Points Just as Mercenaries refuse to work for free, they also refuse to work forever. Each Mercenary begins with an allotment of BP or Battle Points that depletes every time they are deployed on a Free Mission, Sub Mission, or Expedition. Once all Battle Points have been expended, that Mercenary is unable (or unwilling) to accept further assignments. Fortunately, there are two ways to refill a Mercenary's BP. The first method is to speak with Sena at the Inn to Restore BP. Restoring Battle Points using this method can get quite costly with higher level Mercenaries. Each Battle Point restores at a cost of ten times the Mercenary's level. So a level 22 Mercenary can restore 1 BP at a cost of 220 gold. To restore a fully depleted level 22 Mercenary (with a BP total of 49) would require 10,780 gold. This cost is doubled for Master Mercenarys (--> 20 gold per BP per level instead of 10). The second method of BP restoration is by using Hourglasses, which can be purchased from the Cash Shop or occasionally given from Quests. Given the general costs of BP restoration, it is common practice to simply fire BP depleted Mercenaries and hire new ones. This may seems unethical, but without a solid Mercenary's Rights agreement in place, the "Hire-and-Fire" approach is quickly becoming the standard policy among Captains all across the world. Mercenary BP Formula: BP = 29 + (Merc's Lvl) ie.. lvl 5 Merc: BP = 29 + (5) = 34 Leveling Mercenaries Although Mercenaries are a dime-a-dozen, there may be some exceptional ones worthy of keeping around and leveling. In this rare case, leveling may be done only by using Strength Chalices. Another Cash Shop Item, Strength Chalices come in a variety of level ranges at increasing expense. Sc1.jpg|1 Strength Chalice Lv1 = 10C Sc2.jpg|1 Strength Chalice Lv2 = 20C sc3.jpg|1 Strength Chalice Lv3 = 40C Master Mercenaries Master Mercenaries are a rare breed indeed. While they maintain similar roles as their ordinary counterparts, they have better overall stats, access to more skills, and generally have a grander appearance. Skill Difference: Special Mercenaries